Professional Development and Education (PDE) Core - Summary The Professional Development and Education (PDE) Core promotes a culture of research at the Baccalaureate Partner Institutions (BPIs) by: a) working with network faculty at our Baccalaureate Partner Institutions (BPIs) to help them become competitive for extramural funding and b) integrating into the college curricula undergraduate research in order to inspire a diverse group of students to gain experience and enter biomedical careers. Given the heavy teaching loads of VGN's funded BPI faculty and their isolation from colleagues working on related research projects, the Core's programmatic activities are critical to bridging this gap and encouraging publications, grant proposal submissions, and undergraduate student involvement in research. The PDE Core helps to facilitate the state's culture of research by supporting network faculty research through trainings in grant writing, mentoring including the creation of Individual Development Plans, assistance with the development of technical skills, the formation of thematic research groups and integration of research into the classroom. In addition, the PDE Core provides a robust program of mentored research opportunities to undergraduate students at the Baccalaureate Partner Institutions through internships. Students present their VGN-funded research at an annual Career Day event where STEM professionals share their experiences with the student attendees. The PDE Core also collaborates with our two Outreach Partners to extend summer research opportunities for their diverse undergraduates. The PDE Core integrates research and education support to BPI faculty with the other VGN Core Facilities and along with the Administrative Core will monitor the development and growth of the culture of research at the BPIs.